Michaela J.

I cannot begin to express my disappointment with choosing Rooms for Romance to help my sister and her husband to be celebrate their union. I should have trusted in cash going from my bank account to hers but instead I was naive enough to trust in their brand. I was naive enough to think 'romance' and providing a good service would be something Rooms for Romance stood for. When in actuality they showed themselves to stand for something else entirely; rogue, ruthless, rude and worst of all entitled.

In March 2014 I racked my brains to find the ideal gift that would capture the sentiment of joy I felt and be the fruit of so much more for the happy couple, my sister and her fiancé. I didn't want to simply offer up cash - I was wedded to the idea of ensuring I gave a gift that encouraged them to revel in romantic bliss at some point rather than get swept up in household type things/bills that marriage is also made up of too. And so I came across Rooms for Romance - it seemed to capture what I was looking for. So happily I handed over £300 of my hard earned cash and bought vouchers to ensure my sister and her future husband would at some point enjoy a wonderful experience together from me to them with love. I was beyond shocked to make a recent discovery that my sister has kept from me so upset at the idea of how I was feel knowing how awful things have turned out. Following my sisters marriage in April she was blessed with news that she was pregnant with twins almost immediately after getting married. That put paid to a holiday in the near future. Life being what it is, there were some other less fortunate circumstances thrown their way also. Fast forward to May 2015, and my sister and her husband are in great shape with beautiful twin girls - perfect time to take advantage of a wonderful gift and book their break with Rooms for Romance.

My sister made a disappointing discovery - the vouchers expired 12 months post purchase, so these were now 2 months out of date. She made the call to Rooms for Romance and explained the circumstances, good and bad that had occurred for her family over the last 12 months that meant she had been entirely not aware that she was approaching and had past the voucher expiry date. My sister looked hopefully to the good sense and will of Rooms to Romance to understand and evaluate this situation and hopefully use their discretion, as we know they could, to allow her to use these vouchers funded by my money.

This was the beginning of a one week run around with Rooms for Romance saying "no", "we'll speak to the manager" and always "we'll call you back", which never seemed to be the truth. For a mother of baby twins, pretty unnecessary stress. Even more so as we as close sisters speak every day and she carried the burden of keeping it from me. This situation brought her to tears many a time. She was upset with herself and hugely upset with the situation and the inflexibility of Rooms for Romance. Writing this angers me as my sister was essentially wrestling for cash that was mine given to a third party to help HER and her HUSBAND have a great time. I am angry with myself for involving a brand that clearly has minimal values that they will go to such lengths to keep cash flow that they don't even have the foresight to think about word of mouth, referrals, repeat use and all of those things that positively contribute to a business' growth. After the one week run around Rooms for Romance agreed to give my sister £150 in vouchers rather than the full £300. Yes better than nothing - but 100% unnecessary and 100% showing the lack of care Rooms for Romance has for its customers. Rather than understand the situation - positives and hardships combined - Rooms for Romance chose to act as though they were charitable in offering my sister 50% of the voucher value purchased by me. To have them essentially cheat my sister out of money and to be rude in doing so - there was a particularly rude woman who no doubt slept like a baby after she acted as though my sister should be grateful for them snatching £150 off her voucher value - is beyond infuriating.

It is in fact Rooms for Romance that should have been grateful that I googled their business and chose them to help provide a gift to celebrate a wonderful occasion. Something I expect many people seek out Rooms for Romance for is to celebrate wonderful occasions, be it a wedding, an anniversary or something similar.

I was so deeply disappointed to find that rather than bring joy into my sisters life with this 'gift', I brought in stress and wasted my cash - I could have just popped a bow on my £300 and we'd all be happier! But I didn't.

My mistake. I wouldn't dream of considering Rooms for Romance in the future.

All of the above being the reason. Plus the disgusting 25% mark up I now know they charge on rooms.